SABIC composite hybrid battery cover enhances EV safety, efficiency

Cover and tray with team members (left to right): Koffi Dagnon (composite specialist, SABIC), Mick Peters (injection molding technician, SABIC), Daniel Maier (business development manager, Siebenwurst), Jeroen Krijnen (predictive engineering specialist, SABIC), Bart Van Den Dries (injection molding technician, SABIC), Matthias Schmid (project manager, Siebenwurst), Fred Chag (project leader, SABIC). Source (All Images) | SABIC

As the electric vehicle (EV) market accelerates, the demand for lightweight, safe and efficient battery pack components and systems continues to grow. Global chemicals company SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) has partnered with Engel (Schwertberg, Austria), and Germany-based Siebenwurt (Dietfurt), Forward Engineering (Munich), Ensinger (Nufringen), and Envalior (Düsseldorf) to introduce a composite hybrid battery cover that partners believe could transform the approach to EV battery enclosures.

EV cover and tray.

The solution’s design features a hybrid sandwich architecture with two continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite laminates (organosheets) overmolded with a flame-retardant, fiber-filled thermoplastic core (Stamax 30YH570 resin). This thermoplastic composite hybrid is made possible through SABIC’s Megamolding platform, which supports the production of large, complex parts with strong structural performance and design efficiency.

The battery cover’s manufacture incorporates Engel’s turnkey production cell, which facilitates high-volume production capabilities and cost efficiency. The resulting highly integrated enclosure reduces weight while meeting the stringent safety and performance requirements of modern EV platforms.

According to SABIC, the thermoplastic composite hybrid approach provides benefits such as reduced weight, improved cost-effectiveness and enhanced thermal management, making it a suitable option for EV manufacturers aiming to improve range, safety and overall vehicle performance. Ultimately, the collaborative effort demonstrates that composite hybrid solutions can be both practical and scalable. It may also serve as a model for future materials-driven partnerships in the EV space.

This post is courtesy of the CompositesWorld and AZL Aachen GmbH media partnership.